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  • The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You has its own page.
  • Abunai Sisters: At the end of the final episode, the camera zooms in on the Booby Stone in Mika's hand... then moves a bit to focus on her cleavage. Mika yells at the cameraman, then covers the camera with her hand, causing the screen to cut to static.
  • In the prologue of volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index, Touma lampshades his Catchphrase.
    Kamijou Touma: Haha, everyone must now think I’d say ‘such misfortune’, right? But once someone reaches the limit of being unlucky, not even something like that can be said. Haha…hahaha…
    Index: Touma, why is your tone of speech a bit weird? And who are you talking to?
  • A Certain Scientific Railgun ch 56.5, in regards to the movie and the Endymion Space Elevator.
    Uiharu: The titular Endymion is the world's first space elevator! It has been under construction since 3 years ago without the city revealing what its purpose is! It is a bridge connecting Earth to space!
    Saten: Oh... Hey, Uiharu. If it's been under construction for three years, then that ridiculously huge tower was already there when this manga began, right? Has it really been here all that time?
    Uiharu: What are you saying, of course it has. Did Mental Out mess with your memories?
    Saten: But it's never been drawn in the background before...
    Uiharu: It just so happened to be outside the panel.
    Saten: Don't you call this a retco
    Uiharu: IT JUST SO HAPPENED! TO BE OUTSIDE!! THE PANEL!!!
    Saten: O-Okay.
  • The Adventures of Mini-Goddess is full of these, usually via Belldandy commenting on the proceedings via placards ("Don't Try This at Home!")
  • Pulled once in Air Gear during the battle with the Night King gang. When Emily explains to the reader/viewer how the track team was able to move the shed to trap Buccha, Yayoi quickly asks her "Who are you explaining this to?"
  • Akahori Gedou Hour Lovege has Akumako stating that "this anime has only three episodes left! We don't know if we may get a second season!".
  • Anime-Gataris breaks the fourth wall for horror. The anime world is infiltrating the real world, overwriting logic, physics, and personalities.
  • Assassination Classroom:
    • In Chapter 22, after Takebayashi states that girls don't need any more than two dimensions.
      "Takebayashi, do you seriously want that to be your first line in this manga?!"
    • Everything Fuwa says. Everything. Her classmates have noticed this — in the nickname chapter, she gets dubbed "This Manga Is Awesome!"
    • In chapter 155, Koro-sensei is seen messing around with speech and thought bubbles.
  • Senjogohara in Bakemonogatari invokes this when her vocal range is called into question.
    Senjogahara: I can imitate your voice. So don't worry, leave it to me. After all, my voice actress is excellent.
    Araragi: Voice actress!? What is this, an anime!?
    • This line also occurs in the novel, which was written before she had any voice actress at all!
  • The last episode of Bastard!! (1988) has Arshes Nei asking Gara why he hasn't won the fight with the giant monster yet, prompting him to explain that "It's no fun to win while offscreen!" He then turns to the camera and says "OK folks. Watch this." before unleashing his most powerful attack.
    • There's multiple instances of this in the manga, such as Lars freaking out that the story content is much too sexy for its rating, and Dark Schneider commenting about what he's gonna do with his censored penis.
  • In one chapter of the manga Bizenghast, when asked, "Do you see that?" the quirky spirit Edaniel looks up out of the page and reacts with shock: "There are people reading this book!"
  • Black Butler:
    • In the final panel of chapter 4: after the other staff wonder at what sort of demon could have dispatched hundreds of mafia in such a mysterious manner, Sebastian casts a knowing glance at the fourth wall and shushes the readers.
    • Season 2, episode 11: Grell gets charred. While looking at the fourth wall, she says:
    "Don't worry dear viewers. I shall await your kind letters."
  • In the Black Cat manga, Sven does this literally when he bangs his head on the edge of the panel in surprise, cracking the page.
  • Osamu Tezuka appears in a Special of Black Jack as a stressed-out manga artist drawing at a table in a bar. Pinoko rushes in and causes him to spill coffee all over his hard work, much to his dismay. And in another instance in Black Jack manga, a character falls and hits the panels of the manga page.
  • Gin Ichimaru from Bleach. Gin, Aizen, and Tōsen are the last three people to be seen in the Sealed Sword Frenzy OVA. They appear after the credits in the Human world having tea. Gin gets the last speaking role of the OVA, telling the audience to be "careful on your way home." He also does this a lot during his Arrancar Encyclopedia segments in the anime.
    • The Omake at the end of one of the Filler arcs is made entirely of this. It shows Ichigo teleporting back into the main story, at which point Nel asks him if the corporate guys said he could come back. Then Orihime shows up with the corresponding volume of the manga and tells him "go to this scene".
      • It's actually a running gag. At the start of the next filler, Ulquiorra stops his fight with Ichigo and sits down to have a sip of tea. When Ichigo asks why, Ulquiorra tells him that the studio execs will be cutting to something different for a little while. Nel then appears and asks the audience to "just bear with us here." They also ran a similar omake at the end of the filler.
      • And then later in the couple of episodes focusing on the Kakura Rizer team, Ishida pops up, and offers this gem, whilst explaining about various abilities.
        Ishida: While in that state, she gains the ability to use several techniques that we can't air on TV.
    • During the Hueco Mundo arc, after Mayuri Kurotsuchi's victory against Szayel Aporro Granz, Captain finds his lieutenant and (sort of) daughter Nemu Kurotsuchi lying on the ground without a sign of life. He bends over and... does some unknown, yet very embarrassing actions for anyone who saw them (Renji Abarai and Uryuu Ishida, to be precise). In both manga and anime they ask "which part of those movements involved any kind of healing?!", yet only in the anime Ishida said that those actions were impossible to air on TV. Mayuri not only responded, that those actions were only as perverted as "they" saw them, but also helped in Breaking The Wall. Also during this battle, when Pesche Guatiche reveals his zanpakutou and likens it to Seele Schneider, Uryuu denies the similarities. This leads to Pesche's angered rant about how his "thingy" is "way thicker and more useful than Uryuu's thingy". This soon cuts out to a "Technical difficulties" screen featuring Dondochakka.
    • When Noba zips his mask after being approached by Rangiku, Ururu turns to the audience and explains: "He's a little shy."
    • During the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales arc, in one of the episode previews, Ichigo asks why Kenpachi's Zanpaukto hadn't materialized. The conversation continues with:
      "Idiot! If Kenpachi's Zanpakuto materialized, Soul Society would be wiped from existence and the show would be over!"
      "So the studio stepped in huh?"
      "Bingo"
    • In short, the Bleach anime is fond of breaking the fourth wall. However, it never happens in the manga... With the exception of Aizen's Shikai/Bankai powers. Explicitly, anyone who sees his Bankai falls under the complete hypnosis of his Shikai and the only Shinigami not to have seen it is Ichigo. This is fine and all right up until the point where Aizen tricks Hitsugaya into stabbing Momo. Not any of the captains nor the audience themselves see or hear Ichigo screaming at Hitsugaya to stop until it's too late.
  • Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo did this at least once an episode.
  • In Café Kichijōji de, when Hifumi Minagawa walks in with pink hair during the colour pages and everyone asks "What's with your hair?", he replies "What do you mean? It's been like this the last two chapters, but no body noticed because the Manga is in black and white,"
    • He goes on to say "The boss' hair is thinning too, but even he doesn't know because the artist only draws lines" to which Taro and Maki ask "Who's drawing lines?!"
  • In Case Closed, Conan makes frequent internal asides to the viewer, such as when Mouri Kogoro talks about all the cases he's solved and Conan thinks to the camera, "Oi oi, I'm the one who solved those."
  • City Hunter: There are quite a few incidents. There is a sequence in the manga where Ryo and a client look at the clouds for 4 panels. Ryo wonders if the audience will start to think the mangaka is lazy. Another is when Ryo takes a bodyguard assignment twice in a row, and asks if the mangaka has run out of ideas. At another point, he uses speech bubbles to shield himself from Kaori's wrath, while she throws her's at him. Characters also run outside the panel or break them sometimes. Intense Close Up is also treated like the character's face literally getting larger.
  • Daily Lives of High School Boys often uses this trope for comedic effect:
    • As early as the intro before the opening in the first episode: even if the anime is a Square Enix-Sunrise collaboration, it would not add mecha or RPG elements to a Slice of Life series.
    • Intro of episode 3: The main trio recognized the anime aired in winter. They also recognized by starting the story in Summer instead of Spring (when the Japanese school year starts), it misses many cliches of High School anime—but this is a Slice of Life show anyway.
    • The Distaff Counterparts of the three main boys wondered why those boring boys could have their own anime.
  • Debusen: While falling down the stairs at a hot spring (It Makes Sense in Context), Mitsuru thinks that it will be the end of the volume when he hits the rocks.
  • If time permits, characters in the dub of Digimon will editorialize during Previously on… and To Be Continued segments.
  • In one episode of D.N.Angel, the eyecatch typically used before and after commercials is farcically placed at major scene changes as well, prompting Riku and Risa to yell, "Enough already!" after half a dozen appearances.
  • Dororo, another work of Osamu Tezuka, does this several times much like Black Jack above. Osamu Tezuka getting crushed by a rain of rocks summoned by a demon while at his drawing board. Later, when a mysterious voice speaks to him, Dororo asks the reader if it was him/her. And when Dororo is embarrassed, he asks the writer to stop showing this part.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • In the 8th chapter of the manga, Akira Toriyama used an unusual (for manga) way of breaking the fourth wall. Son Goku sends Yamcha into the air with his punch, but Yamcha bounces off the frame's border back to the ground.
    • In later chapters there are a few instances, where different characters refers to the fact that it's a manga, such as discussions of acceptableness of dirty jokes in the manga for children.
    • In the first Tournament Arc, Jackie Chun (AKA Roshi in disguise) destroyed the moon to stop Ohzaru!Goku's rampage, and the announcer complains, among other things, that now werewolves will be unable to transform. Comes the second Tournament Arc, and one of the finalists is Wolfman a reverse werewolf (that is, a wolfman that becomes fully human with the full moon) that is enraged with Jackie Chun because without moon he cannot transform anymore.
    • The Buu saga of Dragon Ball Z featured a scene where Krillin realized that the panels showing Goten's and Trunks's Fusion Dance were being photocopied and criticized robot Akira Toriyama (the series creator) for his laziness. Toriyama even said to his editor that he didn't need to pay him for this page. After that, he disappeared off the face of the Earth. Naturally, this scene isn't in the anime. (Not like Toei doesn't reuse animation or anything...)
    • There is also at least one blatant breaking of the fourth wall in the anime. In Episode 205, "I'll Fight Too", Krillin is shown for the first time (outside of the opening and closing credits) with a full head of hair. Gohan then immediately turns to the camera, gesturing his thumb back at Krillin, and tells the audience that Krillin has stopped fighting and has also stopped shaving his head. Though that happened in the manga as well.
    • Also, in Episode 287, "Celebrations with Majin Buu", Vegeta says, "What are you looking at?" in response to the narrator implying he is not having fun at the party.
    • Babidi looks directly at the camera as he speaks to Earth's population using his magic. The viewers live on Earth, too...
    • Fat Buu does this at one point, asking the viewers to smell his breath.
    • In Dragon Ball Super, one episode has Vegeta meeting Arale, and correctly identifying her as a "gag manga character" against whom strength and logic are meaningless. When he predictably gets booted over the horizon by Arale for a gag, the final scene is him declaring he is never fighting a gag manga character again.
  • In a little bit of Early-Installment Weirdness, Dragon Knights has the main characters explaining the backstory to the audience in the first chapter.
  • In Episode 6 of the Durarara!! anime when Kadota Kyohei explains why they're rescuing Kaztano.
    Erika: Who are you talking to?
  • The Eto-Musume of Etotama do this at least Once per Episode, with situations like Nya-tan trying to decide what character archetype she should fulfill, or when the Eto-shin girls are all rendered naked, pointing out that the Lens Flare Censors are animated in, so they won't be removed on Blu-Ray release. Human Takeru gets confused whenever this sort of thing gets brought up.
  • The Fairy Tail anime has done this occasionally, with Lucy complaining at the end of one filler episode about how it has No Ending, and how another episode ends in the middle of a fight with a Cliffhanger. Also at one point, the narrator has one of the characters provide the audience with an explanation for a problem that would otherwise go unexplained. It would appear that Happy is better at talking to the audience than other characters.
    • During the fight with Kain, the narrator provides an explanation of Kain's powers. As soon as he is done talking, Happy says "You heard the man, Natsu!"
    • Lucy and Natsu do this in a preview of the next episode in the Oración Seis arc, saying "Do you know how many episodes ago that was?" upon the return of Lyon and Sherry.
  • In FLCL, Naota looks to the audience and says "Do you find this as confusing as I do?"
    • Yes, yes we do.
    • From Kamon: "That's enough now, huh? Let's just stay with anime. It's hard to be in manga form. It takes time and is a lot of work. After the first episode they said not to do the manga thing again, but then we get accused of being lazy, right?" And later, "...what does fooly cooly mean? ...come on, you have to know, the main character always knows stuff like that."
  • From Fruits Basket episode 16: After tripping Kyo during a race, Hatsuharu turns to warn viewers "Don't Try This at Home".
    • In the English dub (but not the Japanese), Kyo responds, "Don't try it here!! Who are you even talking to?"
    • Later in the same episode, Tohru comments, "Somehow this has turned into a fighting anime."
  • Fullmetal Alchemist does this often.
    • Throughout the manga, there are extra comics about the characters reactions and hopes about a popularity poll. This includes discussions about how much 'screen time' they've had in recent chapters and at one point Scar using alchemy to blow up the author when he reads that he has tied with her way low on the poll.
    • And the side story where Ed and Mustang have a fight.
      "Hughes: We don't have many pages left, so let's get it going!"
    • In volume 14, Ed comes out of the shower naked and discovers a girl's inside Al's armor. A guard (actually Envy in disguise) comes in and says "Stop acting like you're in a manga!"
      • In Brotherhood, during a post-credits scene, Envy learns some new information regarding Dr. Marcoh. But, instead of telling Wrath- who is seated behind them- they speak directly to the viewer:
        "Hahaha... Marcoh... (gives the audience a Slasher Smile) This is starting to get interesting!"
    • In the 2003 series Hughes asks Mustang why he called him just to seemingly pester him. Mustang replies that it's because it had been a while since his last appearance, followed by a cut to his office with Roy and the entirety of Team Mustang staring at the camera.
  • The very end (as in the second-to-last line) of Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu has a one of the Jindai high school students swearing revenge on Shoji Gatoh and Yasuhiro Takemoto for putting him through hell in the final episode.
    • In the first episode's "In the Next Episode" sequence in Fumoffu, Sousuke informs the viewers that the next episode will be featuring the giant armed suits "Armed Slaves" before Kaname shoots that down because Fumoffu was going to be a high-school romantic comedy.
    • The Full Metal Panic! manga has frequent references to the fact that it's a comic (eg. "I said that three chapters ago!")
  • In Fushigi Yuugi, when Miaka is told to remove her clothes as part of a test to see if she is worthy of receiving a magical relic, she strips down to her one-piece underclothes, then comments "This is the limit of what the broadcast code allows."
  • The Gag Dub of Ghost Stories positively mauls its fourth wall, breaking it more and more as the series goes on. Characters identify plot points, comment on how they're being animated (usually poorly), and wonder which movie they're ripping off for a given episode's plot (especially that they meet so many villains who look like Samara from The Ring). In one episode towards the end of the series they conflate Satsuki's father with his voice actor, Illich Guardiola, and call him "Illich" for the rest of the episode. Maybe it's safe to say this show has no wall whatsoever.
  • Gintama uses this a lot. Possibly the most triumphant example of this trope: Otae jumped out of the TV to kill the author because she was pissed off that the gorilla was more popular with fans than her. The anime promptly gets screwed up and stopped airing altogether, until the studio staff rebuilt a robotic replacement of the author.
  • Good Luck Girl! makes frequent references to Ichiko's status as the main character.
  • Shuichi from the Gravitation manga does it in the final volume, stating, that Yuki's behaviour doesn't make any sense at all since there was no single hint in the previous 11 volumes.
  • The Hamtaro anime has done this several times, most notably in episode 79 (a New Year's episode) where Hamtaro and his friends all address the viewer at the beginning before the actual adventure, saying that they'll have more fun adventures in the new year. Hamtaro also looked at an actual script for the show (complete with the Japanese logo) to remember one of his lines in Episode 103 (104 in the original Japanese version). This one was a dream episode, so it didn't happen in reality, but still... The second Japanese opening also features Hamtaro greeting the viewer before the theme starts, and the sixth Japanese opening features Hamtaro running toward the viewer only to bump into the screen. The sneak peeks for each episode also kind of count, especially considering Hamtaro and Laura actually can speak to and understand one another while talking about the next episode (Laura can't normally hear Hamtaro speaking in the series, unless it's a dream episode like the previously mentioned one).
  • Hanaukyō Maid Team:
    • At the end of episode 11, after Ryuuka has declared that Mariel is her rival for Taro's affection, Grace turns to the audience and says "Is this going to continue?"
    • La Verite (2nd season) episode 7. The group encounters a series of odd traps.
      Ryuuka: Why is this place full of so many lame traps, anyway?
      Ikuyo Suzuki: It's as if the producers wanted to show us how unimaginative they are!
  • Hand Maid May does this a few times, but the best example occurs in episode 7 - the scene is at a Dutch Angle indicating the characters' surprise at Mami's arrival, and Kasumi stomps on the floor until they're level again.
  • Haruhi Suzumiya:
    • The Non-Indicative First Episode doesn't even try to have a fourth wall — there's a constant voiceover from an omniscient narrator from end to end who hangs lampshades on all of the Japanese Media Tropes (especially the discredited ones) that occur during their amateur film.
    • He even goes so far as yelling at the characters about things that bother him:
      "I swear if your face gets any closer to hers, somebody who's not even in this scene is going to come out there and kick your ass, dammit!!"
    • Haruhi-chan has this one episode in which, in the begining, Achakura tries to tell her past, but Mr. Kimidori says that the programmers are "turning this into a flashback episode" and asks them to stop.
      • Also done in some episodes, and there's one that only exists in the English dub. Haruhi was about to throw the dart at Kyon, who tells her to keep it clean because they "have kids watching."
  • Hayate the Combat Butler either does this constantly or doesn't have one to begin with.
  • In the final chapter of Helen ESP Helen asks Victor if he thinks they're in a story, and Helen says she'd like to meet their readers. Cue dreaming... Hello! How do you do? You're the person who's been reading my story, aren't you? My name is Takahara Helen.
  • The manga version of He Is My Master is made entirely of this trope; the Author Avatars are essentially main characters at this point that regularly interact with the rest of the cast.
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers:
    • In one episode, Japan looks directly into the camera and comments on the normally slow Italy's sudden burst of speed when he sees England:
      Japan: They say that Italian tanks can advance 60 kilometers a week on the battlefield, but after spotting English troops, they can retreat 60 kilometers in a single day.
    • Prussia complains in one episode that he should be a main character, going so far as to insult the staff making the anime.
    • And many more times in the dub. For instance, Italy telling the viewers that they should feel Germany's firm butt.
      France: [commenting on America's drawings] Those are even worse than the animation!
  • Iceland breaks the fourth wall when he introduces himself at the beginning of The Movie. During the Hetaween 2011 event, he also tells the audience to stop staring at him.
  • In one of the Monthly Comic Birz strips and the anime episodes that adapted it, Finland introduces the Nordics directly to the audience.
  • One of the Birz strips has Italy Cat introducing himself, speaking directly to the audience, and at one point he tells Germany Cat to greet the audience.
  • Highschool of the Dead sometimes pokes through the fourth wall, saying that what's happening now would make a great manga. Of course at one point Saya tells Takashi "We get it, you're the main character."
  • At the end of the penultimate arc of Higurashi: When They Cry Kai, when trying to figure out why their efforts failed, Rena says she understands why, looks straight out at the screen and says, "Did you really believe?" It turns out that she's talking to Hanyuu, who then affirms her desire to finally fight alongside them, but the double meaning seems clear.
    • This is even more prevalent in the final episode of the game, where Rika (maybe) directly speaks to the player, saying that the task of getting the Good End is monumentally hard and he must not be overcome by despair, because it's despair that kept them locked in the "Groundhog Day" Loop until then. Like in the anime, she explains that Fate can be defeated only if everyone believes, including you. And she even adds that if you give up and uninstall the game, they will stay trapped in the Downer Ending. Forever.
      • The sequel-of-sorts, Umineko: When They Cry, has Bernkastel (who may or may not be an incarnation of Rika's) occasionally addressing the readers directly as well.
      • Featherine, despite being a character inside the game, can reach out and edit the visual novel at will.
  • Hoshin Engi: The manga has the occasional Breaking the Fourth Wall moment. For example, one villain advises the readers to look up the difference between strategy and tactics in a dictionary after saying he favors the former over the latter in war.
  • Though the other entries of the Pretty Cure franchise barely used this, the first few episodes of Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure has used this a number of times.
    • In episode 4, when Mashiro becomes Cure Prism for the first time, Kabeton is confused as to why a "side character" is a Pretty Cure.
    • In episode five, when Kabeton unleashes the newest Monster of the Week, he calls the other citizens "side characters" as they run.
    • In episode six, pissed off because Kabeton became a Moment Killer,, Sora tells him that he doesn't deserve a moment of screen time.
  • All the time in Hiroshi Strange Love, with Professor Iaizawa complaining about how his face is cut out, wondering when things got so serious, asking where the government got the "World Domination" style picture of him, proclaiming the coming sequel, talking about how he hopes they become an anime, etc.
  • In the manga version of His and Her Circumstances, when Kazuma's band crashes the school festival and the narrator starts spouting a bunch of stock rock and roll manga cliches, Yukino appears with a very cynical look and says "When did this become a rock manga?"
  • Not only does Neptune directly give the audience a Don't Try This at Home message in Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation, Histiore literally breaks the fourth wall by accidentally swinging the power cord at the glass representing the fourth wall.
  • The Idolmaster - Subverted/Played with in a In-Universe example, with Haruka mentioning the script during the Are we live? show and with Ami and Mami commenting about the report during the Ramen segment with Takane.
  • The omakes at the end of each volume of Iris Zero always feature the main characters discussing said volume. Also, when discussing how Koyuki would react to being shouted at by Toru, Kuga merely points to a thought bubble depicting her shouting back and says, "Like this."
  • In Part 3 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure it looks like the hero, Jotaro Kujo, has died in battle against the Stand known as Wheel of Fortune. The foe who slew him begins to brag out of the blue that he caused an early finish to that Part. Then Jotaro is revealed to be alive after all, and speaks about how he will not be replaced by his supposed killer as protagonist of the series.
    • One from Joseph Joestar at the end of the battle against Daniel D'Arby in the English dub:
      Polnareff: Ugh..! I feel like death warmed over!
      Joseph: Well, I guess we can't be the heroes of every episode.
    • The Anime Theme Song of the adaptation ends with Star Platinum literally breaking the fourth wall. With its fists.
    • The penultimate episode of the adaption takes it to the next level. When Jotaro breaks the glass near the end of the OP DIO appears and activates The World, completely freezing not only Jotaro, but also the theme song that's playing and the credits that are on the screen.
  • Some episodes of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! do this.
    • For example, in Cartoon Buffoon, during one point, Meta Knight breaks the fourth wall.
      Meta Knight: Look! It is Fire Dedede, our hero! [turns to camera] ... I would never say that...
    • At the end of said episode, the Iris Out ending appears as usual...but Kirby's colors suddenly vanish completely, leaving Kirby as an outlined sketch. Kirby realizes that his color is gone and panics. Then, out of nowhere, a paintbrush comes in and then paints Kirby back to his normal color before the paintbrush leaves, to which Kirby responds positively. Only then does the episode end.
  • At one point in Komi Can't Communicate, Najimi states that Kometani's speech bubbles look like they're part of an inner monologue.
    • Naruse declares himself to be the (handsome) protagonist of the series in his introduction.
    • Kometani provides translations for Manbagi's slang, even when it's in her thoughts, and even when she's at home. He also shows up in situations where he's not present, like Komi's midnight snack or Obon trips.
  • The girls in Laid-Back Camp appear to be able to hear the narrator's commentary while they prepare their camping implements. In episode seven, the narrator remarks that tents with a short set-up time are pricier, and Nadeshiko's mood sours with this knowledge.
  • Legendz deserves a special mention. It is the only show that nukes the 4th wall from da' orbit!
  • Little Ghost Q-Taro managed to combine this with Deus ex machina in its Grand Finale. The heroes are captured and all hope seems to be lost when they are suddenly rescued by Perman. They ask who he is, and he declares himself to be the star of the show. Q-Taro then angrily informs Perman that his show starts next week, and he's arrived a week too early. Sure enough, Perman debuted the following week in Obake no Q-Taro's former time slot.
  • The whole "Lucky Channel" segment of Lucky Star anime (no, the manga does not have this) implies that the series is just a TV show produced by fictional TV channel Lucky Channel. During these segments, the 2 staffs of Lucky Channel, Minoru and Akira, speak to the audiences and act like the characters are just acting in their show. This also happen in the OVA.
    • Also, Misao does this in the OVA, first with her statement "We'll show them the true power of minor characters!" and after the match she sighs "It seems minor character aren't meant to win."
  • Lupin III: This trope is used due to the franchise's Semipermeable Fourth Wall nature. It is usually Lupin speaking directly to the audience, but any of the characters can do it for a Rule of Funny.
    • Some of the Manga stories have turned Monkey Punch and/or the audience into a main character for the story. One story was Lupin showing off his hideout, and explaining everything he had in it.
    • In the Lupin III Yearly Specials Lupin III: Alcatraz Connection, one scene has Lupin explain to Fujiko, who is trapped in a submarine that's about to fail under the water pressure, that if she were to be crushed and die, millions of fans would be crying their hearts out.
    • In the Intercontinuity Crossover with Detective Conan, Lupin thinks he's about to get lucky with Fujiko. He turns to the camera and announces "To you 80 million adult viewers: thank you for your patience!" and pounces on her. The same movie mixes this with Leaning on the Fourth Wall regarding the crossover nature of the story. Case Closed has previously established that Lupin III manga exists in their world. Zenigata thinks it's odd that Koguro, a professional detective, doesn't know about Lupin. Koguro says that he always just thought that Lupin was a comic book character.
  • In March Comes in Like a Lion, Smith, poking fun of Nikaidou's "aura" before his match with Rei, jokingly comments that the story they're in is about to turn into a different kind of manga.
  • In one episode of Martian Successor Nadesico, Izumi makes yet another pun. This one, however, makes use of such an obscure, outdated word that some of the characters have to explain to the others what in the world she was talking about. The scene ends with Megumi looking directly into the "camera" and saying, "We've learned something today, haven't we?" The others then ask her who she's talking to, a question she completely ignores.
    • In the dub, she actually answers the question with "The fourth wall!"
  • Mazinger Z: The original manga penned by Go Nagai broke the fourth wall several times. In one of the first episodes Kouji gets forced to kill a Mook in self-defense and he suffers s Heroic BSoD thinking he is a murderer... until another character calms him down stating he was only defending himself and he is the main character and The Hero, so he did no wrong. And in this page Count Brocken complains Kouji fights dirty and yells the main character should not fight dirty and the fans will cry. Kouji was not impressed.
  • Mission! School breaks the fourth wall throughout the series especially in the final volume when the main characters tried to save the series from getting cancelled.
  • Mobile Police Patlabor:
    • One of the earliest examples occurs in the first chapter. Noa complains she can't keep track of all the geographical data, so Asuma tells her he'll explain two pages later. And he does - complete with a map and pointer!
    • Noa breaks the 4th wall, herself, by turning her back to the reader while taking her physical exam so we can't see her topless. While in another scene, she notes that the manga's becoming more like a cartoon.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, on board the Libra, Duo comments that this is not what he's expecting...but he's alone and facing the audience.
  • Monster Musume:
    • The color pages at the start of chapter 39 feature Doppel talking to the readers and showing them the other MON girls in their sleep.
    • In one omake Octo lends one of her skimpy bikinis to Manako, who is enormously flustered. Octo then asks her why she's embarrassed, since she appears naked in every episode of the anime during the ending sequence.
  • My Hero Academia has a few of those:
    • Katsuki calling the students who are not part of the hero course "extras". While Tenya comments on how rude it is, we as viewers, know that he isn't wrong.
    • Right after the fight against Mirio at the beginning of the Internship Arc, Momo is impressed by how efficient the third year was at explaining the point of the internship, commenting that it only took him three panels.
    • During the Joint Training Arc, Izuku is praising Katsuki's new suit which makes the latter, due to his usual jerkface attitude, reacting violently to the point where he chews Deku's speaking bubble.
  • Silver Heart of Mysterious Joker has repeatedly paused or stopped the action to explain something directly to the audience.
  • In chapter 226 of Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Rakkan has stolen the panties of one of two girls who have imprisoned him and several of Negi's friends in a dimensional trap. In order to draw the girls out of hiding he begins... enjoying the panties in a rather perverted manner. As he threatens to lick them, Konoka holds up a "please stand by" card to the reader while telling Rakkan, "You can't go any further than that... There are children reading this!" Later, Konoka murmurs, "Are we really allowed to show this?"
  • In Neko-de Gomen! when preparing for a school field trip, Yayori packs some feminine supplies. When her father points out what they are, she attacks him claiming that "The readers can hear you!"
  • Though the main series had none, Neon Genesis Evangelion had a few in the extras (you ran out of ink too, didn't you ya bastards!)
    • End of Evangelion had a treat for those who went to see the premiere. Near the end of the movie there's a host of live action clips, including an empty theatre. Gainax, get this, shot footage of the same theatre where the film screened when it filled with otaku and then spliced it in. Break them walls down.
  • Also done in Niji Iro Togarashi. When Shichimi asks the landlord who his father is (considering that the father had many wives, including Shichimi's mother, it's unlikely to be a happy reunion), the landlord replies that he can't tell Shichimi who his father is yet because it's only the first chapter and that he should really respect the mangaka's wishes.
  • In one episode of Noir, Mirielle hums along with the soundtrack that's playing while she's cutting Kirika's hair.
  • A minor fourth wall-breaking moment happens in One Piece: in the Laboon arc, Crocus loves to make dramatic glares at people. The third time he does that, the Straw Hats get pissed and tell him to stop doing that, causing him to answer : "Haven't you ever heard of a runnning gag ?".
    • Luffy breaks the fourth wall during a scene in the filler G-8 Arc. See it for yourself.
    • Brook breaks it during his explanation of why he lacks a shadow.
      Brook: I'll tell you everything now... It has been a long time since I began drifting on this sea... But let me say, my being a skeleton and not having a shadow are completely different things. To be continued in the next chapter.
    • Mild case of Medium Awareness with Franky, who frequently remarks on his mood in the current week. Note that new installments are released weekly.
  • Happens often in Ouran High School Host Club. Usually by Tamaki who once declares he's The Hero of the story and the rest of the host club are homosexual Supporting Protagonists (they are not amused). He also asks Mori if he's upset he hasn't gotten an episode dedicated to him yet.
    Tamaki: This anime is obviously a romantic school comedy! Haruhi and I are the main characters, and that means we're love interests!
    Haruhi: [while discussing that Honey-senpai has type AB blood, the same as Kyoya, and therefore has an evil split personality] Oh, those of you watching who are type AB, don't get upset.
  • PandoraHearts does this in every omake, normally having Sharon complain about how little she appears.
  • Jessie, James, and Meowth in Pokémon: The Series occasionally show awareness that they're cartoon villains. In Pokémon 2000, they even proudly and dramatically declare their presence on the big screen, to which the annoyed Ash retorts, "I'll just catch this on video!" The Slowking from the same film also breaks the fourth wall by telling Team Rocket how people have been watching their sudden switch to heroism the entire film.
    • In the English dub of Pokémon: The First Movie, the trio board a boat piloted by Team Rocket disguised as Nordic Vikings. Brock comments that he didn't know vikings still existed. Ash's reply? "They mostly live in Minnesota." This also doubles as Product Placement.
    • The narrator who starts and ends every episode and sometimes announces unexpected plot twists.
    • In the film Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, Team Rocket claimed they would steal diamonds and pearls. Meowth then says it is a great name for a game!
      • Later in the same film, they mention diamonds and pearls again, and Meowth comments, "Let's get through this season first."
    • Lampshaded in "The Whistle Stop", when Meowth comments about what would happen to them after the bridge falls: "We usually don't wash out this early in the episode!"
    • One Pikachu short trailer had Meloetta winking at the camera.
    • In Pokémon 3, Meowth asks Jesse and James if they'll get a bigger part in the next movie.
    • Ash and his pals rarely acknowledge the presence of the fourth wall, but the intro for one Season 1 episode ended with Brock breaking up an argument between Ash and Misty by saying they had to start the show because they were running late, and Pikachu waving at the audience.
    • And who can forget when Misty caught Psyduck? The narrator congratulates her and she yells back at him for it.
    • A whole list of them.
  • The characters in Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General periodically reference the fact they're in a manga, such as directly referring to previous chapters about prior events. They only do this occasionally, however.
  • In an interesting variation, in Princess Tutu, Princess Kraehe breaks the internal fourth wall at one point by speaking directly to Drosselmeyer. The latter is very put off by this.
    • It's touched on in the last episode when Drosselmeyer wonders if he's in someone else's story.
  • In episode 96 of Ranma ½ after yet another dreary conclusion Ranma pointedly asks...
    "Speaking of which, what was the point of this episode again?"
    • The manga had one moment where Mariko uses several moves reminiscient of young Goku in Dragon Ball (extending baton, standing on a "cloud" made of pompoms). Ranma demands to know which manga she thinks she's in.
  • In Reborn! (2004), as Belphegor is describing the fights between himself and his brother, Flan remarks to the viewers concerning knife throwing 'It's dangerous, so good little kids shouldn't try it at home.' This is then lampshaded when Bel then says 'Who are you talking to?!"
  • In the preview for Episode 12 of Rent-A-Girlfriend, Kazuya, Chizuru and Mami talk about how it's the final episode, with Mami suggesting that they reach out to the fans and studio bigwigs to renew them for a second season. Even Sumi chimes in at the end asking for the fans' help.
  • In Robotech, the usually formal narrator breaks the fourth wall only twice. The first time is in Wedding Bells, when he humorously comments about Max's nervousness regarding his upcoming date with Mirya: "After all, (laughs), what do you expect from a girl you only met that same morning?". In Season's greetings, he ends the episode by saying "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a safe night."
  • In the 3rd episode of Rosario + Vampire, succubus Kurumu does this when she is treating Tsukune in the school infirmary. She suddenly steps to the front of the screen, looks straight at the audience while making a fist and complains "Hey, what the hell is this? I just debuted on the previous episode, can't you let me appear earlier?"
    • Then the announcer (a bat) appears in the screen saying "Who are you talking to?". Strange, in that the bat constantly appears to be talking to the audience.
      • Kurumu has broken several more walls after that episode, actually. Since she is a succubus, and succubi have control over reality, it would make sense that she's the only one (other than the bat and maybe her mother) who knows that her world is just an anime.
  • According to Kaoru in an early chapter of Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin's handwriting is "as bad as Watsuki's".
  • In the first episode of the Saber Marionette J sequel Saber Marionette J To X, Hanagata (upon being punched through a roof and into the sky) proudly announces to the audience that this is his first appearance and flight in the new series. The exact opposite was true in the final episode of J to X when Hanagata proudly announces to the audience that it is his last flight in the series.
    • Also in the manga, when Lime wakes up for real and she and Otaru... erm... get acquainted, he suggests her to get dressed because "this is a shonen manga".
  • An episode of the English dub of Sailor Moon altered a line of dialog where Sailor Moon was looking straight at the camera to have her ask the audience to tell her where Luna went. The original script had her worrying to herself.
    • Another episode in the sub version has Sailor Moon say that Joseph Haydn is the father of music. When Luna says that it's actually Johann Sebastian Bach that has the title, Moon gets embarrassed and says the audience wouldn't have noticed her mistake if Luna hadn't mentioned it.
  • The English broadcast of Cat Ninja Legend Teyandee - Samurai Pizza Cats - constantly involved the narrator conversing with the cast and commenting on the Japanese attributes such as the written language and sight gags, and made complaints to the writers and producers regarding strange plots.
  • Sgt. Frog has had episodes where the characters have conversations with the narrator. This has also happened in the manga.
  • In Sketchbook Tanabe Ryou and Himuro Fuu seem to have this ability, but it is hard to tell, as their whole school life seems to be a comedy stage to them, and they might just be speaking to an imaginary audience.
  • Sky Wizards Academy: In episode 8's opening narration, Kanata preemptively declares his team's victory against Yuri's while she tells him to stop messing up the narration.
  • Done several times in Slayers, mostly in the first season of the anime. Near the end of that season, Lina lampshades her lack of screentime during her 'Pretty Lina's Magic Lesson'. Zelgadis and Gourry also mention the ridiculous things that happen during serious moments, such as Zelgadis citing how "they" (the writers) can't keep one episode too serious for too long. There are examples in later seasons, too; such as one about the remarkable nature of Martina's survival, considering she's a comic relief character.
  • Space☆Dandy has this in spades in the first episode itself.
  • In the Strawberry Marshmallow manga, the prologue to episode 2 begins with Chika sitting in a wastebasket. We go back 30 minutes to see the events leading up to this predicament, after which she tells the viewer, "...and that's how it all happened." Miu asks, "You say something?"
    • In the prologue to episode 3, she tells the prematurely-appearing "The End", "No! Not 'The End'!"
    • In episode 5, Nobue says "A 16-year-old girl shouldn't be smoking." But she's not facing Chika, she's facing the reader.
  • While generally not appearing in the anime, the manga series for Tenchi Muyo! featured quite a few references to episodes of the OVA, as well as Aeka stopping a bit of it by screaming at Ryoko and Washu to, in the English translation, 'stop this Brecht crap!'; the two lackadaisically agree to return to the story.
    • At one point in the recent third series of OVAs, Washuu takes a moment to explain things to the viewers at home, and is complimented for doing so by the Lady Seto.
  • After Kamina declares his plan to hijack a ganmen and pilot it through sheer force of will in the second episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Yoko turns to the camera and says, "Where does he get his confidence from?"
  • Tokyo Mew Mew has an example in the English dub: Dren says "Remember what happened in the last episode?" during the recap at the start of Episode 26.
  • Abel Nightroad occasionally supplies the odd fourth wall gag in the Trinity Blood manga, which doesn't take itself as seriously as the original novels and the anime do. He once chastised Esther during chapter six by reminding her that "This is a shoujo manga!", when he thought she was suggesting he was romantically involved with Tres, and he also commented on the romantic tension between Astha and Suleyman during the Queen of the Night arc... by holding up signs to simulate the narration boxes.
  • Vampire Knight: At the end of some of the volumes, particularly in the second arc, the characters would comment on having to "wait six months in this position to see what happens next".
  • Wife and Wife goes three chapters with the fourth wall intact, but from Chapter 4 onwards, fourth wall breaking becomes a staple of the series.
  • Wo Jia Dashi Xiong Naozi You Keng, or My Big Brother's Brain Has a Pit, already crushed its fourth wall within the first few chapters (and constantly crushed it again during the entire length of the series). Seriously, Big Brother breaks the fourth wall a lot.
  • The World is Still Beautiful:
  • Yakitate!! Japan has a pun based on Kenchin and Chinchin (Chicken and Penis) respectively. When the Judge of the contest goes to get his Chicken out, one person says "Don't get your dick out! We'll be canceled for sure!
  • Yo-kai Watch: In the episode where Nate and Whisper meet Cadin, a timer pops up throughout the episode and Nate, Whisper, and Cadin sometimes bring up that the timer is still in the way.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! usually doesn't do this at all, even in the dub. However, in the dub version of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds in Yusei's first duel with Kalin, as Yusei is about to land what appears to be a final blow against Kalin, the Dark Signer says, "Oh no! I'm done for!" Then he looks at the TV screen and adds, "But seriously folks," before he activates a card to save himself. (Of course, this has a bit of Fridge Brilliance to it. Since Kalin is clearly Axe-Crazy, this may be the same type of Medium Awareness that insanity gives people like The Joker.

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